Temes de Disseny

Print ISSN: 2604-9155
Online ISSN: 2604-6032

A DESIGN RESEARCH JOURNAL by ELISAVA BARCELONA SCHOOL OF DESIGN AND ENGINEERING

Temes de Disseny was created in 1986 as a channel for communication and reflection among students, professionals and researchers involved in the culture of design.

It is now an indexed, peer-reviewed, diamond open-access and multilingual design research journal. It addresses current and future social, environmental, cultural, technological and economic challenges for design and engineering, with scientific rigor along with appealing graphics, which are both the core of Elisava’s publications. The publication has the purpose to strengthen design as a research discipline that merits attaining the same value as any other discipline to become an area and a field of knowledge. A special emphasis has been placed in including research through design due to its great potential as an integrating agent amongst disciplines.

The journal welcomes scientific contributions by local and international researchers who would like to share their theoretical or practical work in relation to (but not limited to) the following design disciplines and approaches: product design, graphic design and communication, design engineering, interactive experiences design, spatial design (preferably not Architecture), design for sustainability, materials design, social design, service design, design anthropology, design history, food design, design for health, design philosophy. Temes de Disseny offers two paths for publishing:

Regular edition (online): a permanent open call welcoming contributions related to all aspects of design.
Special issues (online and printed): biennial open calls linked to specific topics, guest-edited by renowned international researchers.

2026 Special Issue - Call for Papers

2025-02-13

Design Practices Transitioning Towards Embracing Systemic Worldviews

This special issue of Temes de Disseny responds to the urgent need for design approaches that address the complexities of sustainable transitions. It explores how design can support these transitions by adopting frameworks that account for the dynamic, multi-scale, multi-species and cross-disciplinary challenges inherent in transforming complex socio-ecological and socio-technical systems. Drawing on principles from transition design and recognising the agency of diverse forms of intelligence (i.e. ecological, human, computational), this issue focuses on the role of design in fostering systemic change.

Temes de Disseny welcomes a diverse range of contributions from all fields of design, and the arts that explore new, life-centered design perspectives embracing the plurality of all life forms. We are particularly interested in contributions that present theoretical insights, practice-based research, and experimental approaches, embracing a plurality of perspectives in design, especially focusing on:

Multilevel perspective on sustainable transitions
Knowledge systems
Develop place-based transitions
Service systems and policies (as enablers or blockers)
Participatory Approaches
Design Practices

This issue will be published on Summer 2026, and the Guest Editors will be:

Laurene Vaughan, PhD – RMIT University
Marzia Mortati, PhD – Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano
Isabel Ordóñez, PhD – Elisava, Barcelona School of Design and Engineering (UVic-UCC)

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Download here the Call for Papers PDF with additional information.

Read the Special Issues Guidelines here.

Submit your proposal at the journal’s website, under TdD2026 section.

Deadline for full papers: (6 June) extended until 23 June 2025.

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No. 41 (2025)

Temes de Disseny was established in 1986 as a channel for communication and reflection among students, professionals, and researchers involved in design culture, and progressively became a respected venue for those interested in design thinking and practice.

In 2018, coinciding with the publication of its 34th issue, the journal undertook a profound structural transformation with the aim of evolving into a peer-reviewed scholarly journal with diamond open access. Through special issues edited by guest editorial teams, Temes de Disseny has addressed strategic themes relevant to the current social, environmental, and economic challenges of design and engineering.

In 2025 we enter a new phase by incorporating, alongside biennial special issues, a regular edition inaugurated with the present issue. This initiative aims to offer authors an open and continuous publication channel, capable of accommodating a wider diversity of research topics and approaches in the field of design and engineering, and to continue advancing in the journal’s recognition as a reference scholarly publication.

Hence, Temes de Disseny reaffirms and strengthens Elisava’s commitment to the academic community, scholars, students, professionals, and society at large in design and engineering, providing a space for scholarly debate in Catalan, Spanish, and English accompanied by a contemporary graphic identity. We expect the journal to continue serving as a tool for the dissemination of knowledge, and we hope to receive contributions that will help further build and expand the field of design and engineering research.